Representing the 1st District of New Mexico

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Jobs and the Economy

My top priority is getting our economy moving and putting New Mexicans back to work. I support small businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises which are key components in our economy’s recovery. To that end, I am advocating for a viable economy with corporate citizens that provide good paying jobs and set the path for a prosperous economic future. I am also working to protect Sandia National Labs and Kirtland Air Force Base from misguided budget cuts that harm their critical missions and the local jobs they support.

The across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration are a significant impediment to growing the economy and and creating New Mexico jobs. As a state that benefits from significant federal investments in sectors that drive our economy, these cuts are hitting New Mexico particularly hard. They threaten the mission of our state's National Labs, jeopardize military readiness, stifle job creation and harm the New Mexico economy. Congress must work to fully replace the sequester with a sensible, bipartisan, balanced approach to deficit reduction that restores fiscal discipline and encourages economic growth.

Raising the Minimum Wage

Raising the minimum wage is another important action Congress can take to grow the economy. I’m a proud cosponsor of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 (H.R. 1010), which would give hardworking Americans a long-overdue pay raise by increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and indexing future increases to inflation.

Increasing the minimum wage will help both low-wage workers and middle class New Mexicans. An increase to $10.10 will generate a total of $35 billion in increased compensation for working families, some $22 billion in increased economic activity for business and create 85,000 additional jobs—providing an important boost for our economy.